{"id":406955,"date":"2026-08-15T01:20:18","date_gmt":"2026-08-15T01:20:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/406955\/"},"modified":"2026-08-15T01:20:18","modified_gmt":"2026-08-15T01:20:18","slug":"army-temporarily-grounds-apache-helicopter-training-flights-after-2-soldiers-die-in-texas-crash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/406955\/","title":{"rendered":"Army temporarily grounds Apache helicopter training flights after 2 soldiers die in Texas crash"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The U.S. Army said Friday it is temporarily halting Apache helicopter training flights after two soldiers <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/apache-helicopter-crash-salado-texas-fort-hood\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">were killed earlier this week<\/a> in a crash near Fort Hood, Texas.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The stand-down will remain in effect until we have a better understanding of the root cause of the accident,&#8221; the Army said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>The AH-64 Apache attack helicopter crashed Wednesday in a field in rural Salado, Texas, near its base in Fort Hood, the Army and local law enforcement officials said. The Army identified the deceased pilots as Chief Warrant Officer 2 Deontre T. Huey, 34, and Warrant Officer Seth L. Olmsted, 25, both Texas natives.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;You could tell this was a violent crash,&#8221; said Bell County Sheriff&#8217;s Office spokesperson Bill Coleman, who told reporters the helicopter did not hit any buildings, but sparked a wildfire.<\/p>\n<p>The military has not specified the cause of the crash. It is not unusual for the military to order a temporary stand-down after a fatal crash, especially if the cause is still under investigation.<\/p>\n<p>      <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/crash-scene.jpg#.jpeg\" alt=\"cbsn-fusion-official-describes-violent-army-apache-helicopter-crash-in-texas-thumbnail.jpg \" height=\"465\" width=\"620\" class=\" lazyload\"  loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>                  The aftermath of an Apache helicopter crash in Salado, Texas, on Aug. 12, 2026.<\/p>\n<p>                Bell County Sheriff&#8217;s Office<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The Army is profoundly saddened by the loss of two Soldiers in the recent AH64 Apache helicopter crash near Fort Hood, Texas,&#8221; the Army said Friday. &#8220;We mourn these aviators, and our deepest condolences remain with their families, friends, and unit during this extraordinarily difficult time.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The Army has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.army.mil\/article\/137579\/ah_64e_apache_attack_helicopter\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">described<\/a> the newest iteration of the AH-64 Apache, which has been manufactured by Boeing since the late 1990s, as &#8220;the most advanced aerial fighting vehicle in the world.&#8221; The twin-engine helicopter typically seats a pilot and a co-pilot gunner, and is equipped with a rapid fire gun and can launch Hellfire missiles.<\/p>\n<p>Hundreds of Apaches are operated by Army and National Guard units, and the helicopters have been used during the U.S.-Iran war. In June, an Apache that was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/us-apache-helicopter-crash-strait-of-hormuz-first-sea-drone-rescue\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">patrolling the Strait of Hormuz<\/a> was shot down by an Iranian drone, President Trump announced. The two pilots were then rescued by a sea drone.<\/p>\n<p>\n          More from CBS News\n        <\/p>\n<p>\n              Go deeper with The Free Press\n            <\/p>\n<p class=\"content__tags__label\">In:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The U.S. Army said Friday it is temporarily halting Apache helicopter training flights after two soldiers were killed&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":406956,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[77616,27,29,28,26435],"class_list":["post-406955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-helicopter-crash","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news","tag-united-states-army"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=406955"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406955\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/406956"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=406955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=406955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=406955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}